Thursday, May 12, 2011

With the breakdown of relations between Washington and Islamabad over recurring U.S. drone attacks inside Pakistan and the controversy over the U.S. Special Forces raid on Abbottabad that allegedly killed Osama Bin Laden, western intelligence agencies have concluded that a Pakistani-Indian nuclear exchange is now a distinct possibility.

Intelligence sources have also told WMR that Pakistan has recently updated its nuclear target list for India. The Indian high-technology city of Bangalore, which hosts a number of IT firms that provides outsourced jobs for U.S. companies for Indian employees, has been added to Pakistan's list of targets to be hit in a first wave Pakistani pre-emptive to retaliatory nuclear attack.

India is expected to add some 50 million highly-skilled jobs to its work force in the next decade, with many of the jobs located in the Bangalore high-tech center. A nuclear attack by Pakistan on Bangalore would all but wipe out India's high-tech capabilities, dealing a severe blow to India's economy.

Pakistan still maintains its nuclear attack protocol of avoiding striking Indian cities with large Muslim populations.

Western defense officials are also concerned about new security guarantees given by China to Pakistan as a shield from either Indian or U.S. aggression. China could retaliate against both India and the U.S. Seventh Fleet in Asian waters if an attack by either country were launched against Pakistan.